ITALIAN GRAND PRIX (#1 - MONZA)

I was braced for a dreadful, crowdless weekend at Monza. Last year, Charles won there and made history for Ferrari, but since they didn't make it out of Q2 this year, all I could see was Ferrari's potential for grueling, horrifying shame.

Ferrari has never looked worse - or, at least, they hadn't looked worse before they set a new low today - and I was sure that, without Ferrari up there to fight, we'd get another typical F1 race ending with Hamilton, Bottas, and Max on the podium. At least Crofty was promising that this race would be short.

But I should not have underestimated Monza.

This was one of those races that, while you're watching, feels like you'll never get your blood pressure back to normal. We watched it live, so the immediacy made everything even more uncertain.

I cannot believe I truly saw this race today, ending with Pierre Gasly getting his first win in F1. Not only that, but both other drivers standing on the top steps of the podium were not from any of the three major teams. This was the first time that no one from Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull was on the podium in some insane number of years.

Ferrari did keep up entertained for the first few laps, though. Seb's brakes blew up and he sailed right through the styrofoam dividers on the chicane. It was later revealed that his car was on fire.

Charles, on the other hand, gave me one of the biggest scares I've had yet in F1 when his car inexplicably shot deep into a tire barrier at over 150 mph. He said he was a little sore, but he's okay after that. It was terrifying and no one has said anything more about what happened... but we've all seen Charles Leclerc do a full 360 in the rain in a Sauber and keep it on track. He doesn't mess up. I sense more Ferrari conspiracy here.

This was truly an amazing race. I haven't been this full of pure joy since I was last at Disneyland watching the fireworks.

Here are my notes from this surprising race weekend...

FP1

• Roy Nissani in for George Russell this session

• Announced this last week that Claire Williams is stepping down as team principal and this is her last weekend as acting team principal that Williams will have someone from the Williams family running it so it’s the end of an era

• Lando has a pizza helmet this weekend which I love

• Ted Kravitz is back from his lobster fishing trip and he’s back in the grand stands doing coverage and I missed him

• This is the first weekend that they’ve got the ban on the qualifying modes so it should slow down Mercedes and potentially the driver will make more of a difference

• Apparently the ban of the engine modes was requested by Honda and Renault. Ferrari claims they don’t have engine modes so it doesn’t effect them. Mercedes will have a problem keeping Bottas in the little gap from Hamilton and third

• Max spins very fast into the barrier but it has slowed down a lot by the time he hits with his front wing. He got some air going sideways over a curb which looked like it would hurt his back and bottom. No medical car called though. He does reverse out and keeps the engine on and reversed back on the track and goes back home without his front wing. They red flagged it immediately but it was pretty quickly red flagged for what it actually was.

• Grosjean has a big off over curbs but is fine

• A cute interview of Charles saying he will give 200% to getting the team back to the top as soon as possible and in big contrast with Seb who says he is going to do his job and think of his future

• Bottas calls both of the Williams drivers blind separately

• Seb goes through the gravel and almost lost it but he’s fine

• Bot has an off but he’s fine

• Gasly has a spin into the gravel and yellow flag but he keeps going

FP2

• when starting quali simulations everyone was slow on the back straight like you wouldn’t believe how many cars there were on there at once

• First quali sims without the engine modes in this session

• Seb has a bad spin and almost hits daniel spinning across track but avoided it

• Lando has had engine issues the whole session but when he goes out with five minutes to go, Lando puts third on the time sheets

• Charles almost had a spin in the same place as Seb but ends up going over the grass

• Kvyat nearly drives into Charles on a turn when they both have their DRS open

FP3

• Charles accidentally got in Lando’s way on a fast lap but waved to apologize but Charles was trying to abide by the new speed minimum imposed for the first time this session and he was asking t he team if they were sure everyone was abiding by the new speed limit

• Daniel had to pull over at end of session have a gearbox issue so they red flag it with 8 min left. Turns out it was a fuel pump issue, not a gearbox

• Lando shot to second place at the end of the session and then Sainz went to second

Qualifying

• in Q1, Charles radios in wondering why Seb overtook him and isn’t going to plan which is insane

• Charles puts in a really good time and they delete it for track limits which was totally unfair. I don’t trust the stewards at all.

• Peoples lap times are being deleted left and right because of their tires going over a white line at one turn and a sensor automatically deletes it

• Big rush to the track everyone at once at the end of Q1

• Majorrrr drama with Ocon getting in Kimi’s way at the end of Q1 and Seb in a bad place and gets out in Q1

• Seb threw a tape measure out of his car at the end of Q1 and no one knows how it got there

• Out in Q1: Grosjean, Vettel, Gio, Russell and Latifi

• the stewards are investigating Ocon and Kimi, also apparently involving Latifi, will be investigated at the end of the session

• This is such a mess, so much drama, everyone getting into each others way

• Daniel goes off track on a fast lap but still makes it into Q3

• Out in Q2: Kvyat, Ocon, Leclerc, Kimi, Kmags

• Neither Ferrari into Q3 at Monza for the first time since 1984

• It’s weird. Hamilton, Bottas, Sainz, Perez, Max, Norris, Ricciardo, Stroll, Albon, Gasly

Race

• apparently no penalty for Ocon for driving dangerously against Kimi in qualifying which is dumb

• Latifi breaks smoking after formation lap

• Hamilton keeps first of course but Bottas in second just falls right back to seventh which is bizarre and it must be some kind of mechanical failure

• Bottas reports puncture

• Albon and Gasly have a racing incident on the opening lap and under investigation and then no investigation necessary

• Seb went right through the polystyrene dividers for brake failure and break is on fire like literally on fire, and he gets the car back to the pit but it’s absolutely brutal to watch and just oh the humanity

• A ghost yellow flag around lap 8 probably to clean up SEB debris

• Albon gets a 5 second time penalty for not leaving a cars width when Grosjean snuck up behind him which seems like a weird thing to penalize but I think they have a thing against Albon to be honest

• How did Seb’s brakes even light on fire that fast

• By lap 14 it’s evident that the ban on engine modes has really changed things up because Max is in 7th and two McLarens are in 2 and 3, Perez in Racing Point in 4, Daniel in 5, Bot in 6th and Stroll in 8th. The field is a mess and the engine modes ban has really backfired

• The engine modes ban seems to have not effected Hamilton at all

• Albon is really stuck in the back behind Charles in 14th

• They pit Charles first of everyone around lap 18 and they think they’re being really smart

• 20/53 Kevin pulls over and yellow flag and something broke so he retires

• Kevin pulls the safety car and the pit lane entrance closed at the same time as the safety car and then Ham and Gio pit and under investigation for putting when pit lane closed because they were gonna push Kevin’s car in through the pit lane

• It’s super clear that Ham and Gio pitted when the pit lane was closed

• Now the pit lane is open again and everyone is actually purring now that the lane is open

• 27/50 CHARLES HAS A HUGE HIGH SPEED CRASH INTO THE BARRIER

• Charles is okay but they red flag the race, first red flag since 1995, so they can repair the tire barrier from the huge crash

• Gio gets a ten second time penalty for obviously entering the pit lane when it was closed

• Then it takes the stewards like EIGHT YEARS to say that Hamilton also gets the same penalty as Gio even though exactly the same infraction and Hamilton is complaining he didn’t see the signs because it wasn’t showing at the end of the pit lane even though there are 2 clearly visible signs before that

• Red flag everyone in pit lane

• Hamilton scootering around in the pit lane

• Lando under investigation for going unnecessarily slow through the pit lane

• Hamilton going to have a chat with the stewards to complain about his penalty while they are still in red flag

• At the restart, it’s Hamilton, Stroll, Gasly and Kimi

• This is INSANE

• Hamilton’s trip to the stewards made no difference and he still has to take the penalty YAY

• Ham squabbling with his engineers about when to take the penalty after the standing start

• No further action on Lando

• Max and Perez under investigation for something before the

• No further action for Max and Perez

• Gio serves his time penalty

• 31/53 retire Max with a problem we don’t know what it is yet

• George Russell has a close call trying to get past Grosjean but he’s okay

• Sainz passed Kimi into second

• Ocon passed Kimi and lost part of his car

• THE END OF THIS RACE IS INSANE

• IN THE END, GASLY WINS, SAINZ IN SECOND, STROLL IN THIRD

• IVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS IN F1 BEFORE

BELGIAN GRAND PRIX

Despite Spa being one of the best tracks in F1, there wasn't much exciting about this weekend, unless you count a new low for Ferrari. Just when we all thought Ferrari couldn't disappoint us any more, they failed us again. There was just no pace. I don't see how we're going to be stuck with this same Ferrari car for this year and next year. It's unbearable. And, even worse than this weekend, there's Monza next. But I don't understand how Charles could have won the race on pace alone last year at Spa and this year, he barely made it out of Q1. Unbelievable.

Here are my notes from this weekend...

FP1

• Williams was bought out and will no longer be run by Frank Williams

• Grosjean reports no power

• Lando accidentally cut off Gasly

• Grosjean and Magnussen both have to change power units

FP2

• both Haas cars are still in the garage with two separate engine problems.

• It’s dry but no one is out right now and they wait fifteen minutes before they go

• They’re finally talking about how terribly Ferrari is doing this entire season and how embarrassing it is. Last year Charles won this race and this year, he’s in 15th fastest and Seb in 17th and the rest of Ferrari power are at the back of the field too

• Daniel set a great time but then his Renault had a problem and they told him to stop it so yellow flag, then virtual safety car

• Lewis has a moment off track

• Red flag for debris on the track that turns out to be a fallen advertising sign from the barrier

FP3

• little bit of rain in this session but not a lot

• Ferrari is constantly properly in the bottom five. It’s incredible.

• Seb has the slowest time and Charles is in 17. No reason except that they’re slowest. Oh my gosh.

Qualifying

• I genuinely don’t know if either Ferrari will be able to make it out of Q1

• Kevin off at the end of Q1 through the gravel but no crash

• Out in Q1: KMags, Latifi, Grosjean, Gio, Kimi

• Ferrari JUST makes it into Q2 but it is PAINFUL to watch

• Out in Q2: kvyat, Gasly, Charles, Seb and Russell

• Hamilton on pole again, then Bot, then Max, then Daniel actually

Race

• Sainz won’t start the race because of an exhaust failure so the 7th spot is empty on the grid

• Possibility of rain is high

• Daniel and Max squabbling does 3rd on opening lap

• Charles yo to 8th after the first lap

• Gasly makes a great move passing Perez

• Gasly and Perez passed Charles but Charles is in 10th still and Vettel is only in 13

• Mercedes tell Bottas not to use push “against each other” and Bottas said he never heard of that

• On lap 10 Max feels like his medium tires have no grip

• 11/44 BIG coming together on Gio and George Russell and safety car bahut could be red flag

• Ferrari wasn’t ready for the safety car and a super long stop for Charles

• Everyone in the pits

• Albon gets past Ocon in the pits!

• Turns out the Gio crash was GIO dropping it and his wheel took out George flying right into his path as George was behind him

• Yeah that 100% Gio’s fault and he was trigger happy and nobody really knows why he lost it

• Should the cranes really be backing across the track like that? No

• My hope is that the debris from the GIO crash is worst for Hamilton going over it first and he gets a puncture

• Ferrari can’t make their mind up which plan to tell Charles to do and he can’t do both at once

• 14/44 green flag after safety car

• 16/44 Hamilton reports loss of power

• They always get my hopes up with Hamilton reporting loss of power but apparently it was normal energy management and nothing is wrong

• Ricciardo and Albon passed Perez into 5 and 6

• The Ferraris almost hit each other while Charles was trying to pass Seb into 12th and everyone was like okay squabbling over the back of the field and hitting each other would be too far

• Daniel takes back 4th from Gasly

• 24/44 Albon passes Gasly, yay! Great job Albon!

• Charles is losing hydraulic pressure and so they had to pit him again but they won’t tell him why so he’s like the only person that had to pit again and they never told him the plan and so it’s just all chaos and nonsense and this is so disgusting that he can’t know when all the teams will know why the pitted him anyway when they discuss it on tv

• Kimi reports a lot of water on his right foot suddenly

• Charles gets fastest lap in last place after the pit stop but won’t get a point if he keeps it because he’s not in the top ten

• Seb is telling Ferrari what he is going to do and basically threatening the pit wall and he’s right to do so because there’s seemingly no strategy based on Charles

• Seb goes off track trying to get back past Gasly right after being passed

• I like Crofty saying Kimi had the lollipop snatched away for a move on Gasly

• Bottas reports an issue of numbness on his left leg with the brakes

• Lando surprised by a radio message

• Hamilton has a big off from lockup and goes off but is fine and keeps the lead

• Bottas has a big off too because the tires are dead for both Mercedes

• No rain at all unlike how they predicted

• Gasly is really having a stellar race

• Ocon passes Albon for fifth on the last lap but it was a close battle between Albon, Ocon and Lando in the last few laps

• Hamilton wins again, Bottas in second and Max in third. Sixth consecutive podium for Max.

• This is the last race where they can change the power modes during the race

• Max says this race wasn’t enjoyable and was pretty boring at the pre podium interview which was so honest

SPANISH GRAND PRIX

As usual, I was very excited for the Spanish Grand Prix. And, as usual, it was a disappointment. Despite waking up to watch the race live again - which we've done for several consecutive races in a row now - there wasn't much action at all. I fell asleep again right after it was over.

Anyways, glad that's out of the way for this year. Here are my notes from the weekend...

FP1

• this weekend track limits will be more enforced and you only get 2 warnings before a black and white flag instead of 3

• Roy Nissani in for George Russell this weekend

• Perez is back in his car!

• Apparently the FIA is introducing new regulations that after Belgium they can’t have special quali engine modes and it is supposed to hamper Mercedes engined cars and doesn’t effect Ferrari because they apparently don’t have special engine modes for quali

• Nissani has a little spin

• Bottas almost got hit by a bird in his helmet and it was like a pigeon or something

FP2

• Nico Rosberg is in the commentary box with Crofty this session!

• It’s 86 Fahrenheit right now which is blistering hot

• pretty big grilling of Otmar about the break ducts issue and quite uncomfortable but there’s a lot going on in that team

• Nico Rosberg insinuates that Sainz won’t be a threat to Leclerc at Ferrari

• George Russell says his car is handling like it’s driving on ice

• Bottas goes really wide into the gravel but no yellow flag

• Grosjean has a loss of power

• They announce that the fans will be returning to the track in Russia and there will be 30,000 fans there

FP3

• Nico Rosberg commenting again for this session!

• Toto gave an interview yesterday saying he may leave and they are discussing if he will and if he did if Lewis would stay

• Latifi says Max gets in people’s way too over the radio

• Lots of talking about how people were going slow and causing traffic dangerously and how they need to change that

• Moments after they were talking about the dangerous traffic thing, Ocon crashes avoiding Kevin Magnussen and red flag

• Everyone in the commentary is like wondering what happened to cause Ocon’s weird crash and the speculation is that he was just distracted and it looks like he panicked at the last second and turned into the wall and everyone was like you could see what Kevin was going to do from a mile away. Anyway the car is wrecked now and it’s totally Ocon’s fault

Qualifying

• Stewards said incident with Ocon and Kevin from FP3 is no further action which is awesome

• incident involving Kevin Magnussen and Kvyat investigates after the session which is an incident we didn’t see

• Everyone rushes out at the end of Q1 because of track evolution and it’s a huge traffic jam

• Esteban Ocon complaining about a long brake pedal and the team was like sorry deal with it

• Kimi just makes it into Q2 this time! But sadly George Russell missed out on Q2 this time

• Out in Q1: KMags, Grosjean, George Russell, Latifi, and Gio

• Charles thought he had a horrible lap in Q2

• Out in Q2: Seb, Kvyat, Daniel, Kimi, Ocon

• I love that Ocon is last in Q2

• Gasly is doing great and ended Q2 in 5th

• Charles overtook Stroll during the slow lap in Q2 costing him tires but overall it was really smart cause he was out in clean air free from traffic

• For a second Seb looked like he was going to get into Q3 for the first time cause he improved so much but then he got knocked out at the last second

• At the beginning of Q3, they released Alex Albon right into Hamilton’s path in the pit lane

• Hamilton on pole, Bottas in second and Max in third

• Ferrari starts 9th for Charles and 11th for Seb so things aren’t great

Race

• Hamilton keeps the lead and Bottas falls back into fourth from second passed by Max into second and Stroll into third

• Bottas repasses Stroll for third on lap 5

• Max has awesome pace compared with Lewis in the lead and they are saying it bodes well for Max’s chances to give Hamilton a run for his money for lead

• Hamilton is driving slow in the lead for tire preservation

• Max comments on Hamilton being super slow out front

• These guys on the cranes way up in the air for the cameras are super precarious

• Now they’re saying that Alex Albon almost hit a Mercedes at the start. Now they’re reporting on people Alex ALMOST hit even though he did nothing wrong

• Max is furious about being left on the terrible tires until lap 22 but they pit him as soon as they can and they do a 1.9 second stop to get him out again in front of Stroll in 4th

• They pit Hamilton to cover off Max’s earlier stop and Hamilton has a slow stop! And they double stacked the Mercedes and so it could have effected Bottas stop right after

• Bottas gets on the radio on this 90 degree day and says “these black overalls are ****** hot”

• After lap 37, Kimi becomes the man who has done the most distance of anyone in Formula 1 ever

• On lap 37, Charles engine dies mid corner and pulls a hand brake and caused him to spin and yellow flags it and goes to pit and then they send him back out but then he has to pit AGAIN because he is worried about his SEATBELTS and then they try to fix it and It’s over a second in the pits and finally they retire Charles which was completely not his fault and it was right in the middle of some great fighting moves with Lando

• People starting to do their two stops

• Alex giving Sainz a good run for his money for 9th

• It is looking really rainy all the sudden and the sky is purple by lap 46 and they are expecting rain around lap 50

• Perez being investigated by the stewards for ignoring blue flags apparently for when Lewis was trying to pass him

• This is really a non eventful race it feels like, especially in compared to the other races this season

• They ask Seb what he would think about staying in this on these tires and Seb is like um I asked you this before

• Perez got a 5 second penalty for ignoring blue flags! Not even sure how that happened but it must be because it was Lewis

• Now Kvyat is under investigation for ignoring blue flags probably for Lewis

• Kvyat also gets a 5 second penalty

• Grosjean impedes Kimi and he’s really mad

• Grosjean and Gio under investigation

• Grosjean has a really good save from a drift

• They pit Bottas at the last minute because he has a huge gap to fourth and Bottas gets new lap record to take place of Daniel in 2018

• Lewis wins, Max in second, Bottas in third